Met Police detective found guilty after trying to meet girl, 13, for sex

14 April 2022, 13:13 | Updated: 14 April 2022, 13:41

A detective in the Metropolitan Police has been found guilty of three child sex offences after he tried to meet a '13-year-old girl' for sex.

DC Francois Olwage was convicted of the offences at Winchester Crown Court.

Olwage, 52, who was working in the Met’s specialist operations unit, was accused of "grooming" what he thought was a 13-year-old girl he met on the Lycos online chat forum.

She was actually an undercover officer pretending to be the girl, working under the username "Smile Bear", then using the name Caitlin on WhatsApp.

Over two weeks of sexually explicit conversations in 2021, Olwage, from Stevenage, tried to meet her.

She had told him she lived in Basingstoke.

Olwage had been listed as "on duty working from home" on October 28 last year, the date he travelled by train to meet her in Basingstoke.

He was arrested at a McDonald's in the town by two undercover officers as he was about to buy a McFlurry for his meeting with "Caitlin".

Officers searching Olwage found two condoms in his bag, a bottle of lubricant and a pack of Tadalafil erectile disfunction tablets.

A box of Ferrero Rocher tablets, thought to be a present for the girl, were also found.

Olwage told jurors he did not believe Smile Bear was a 13-year-old girl, insisting he believed it was an adult "playing out a fantasy", and denied having a sexual interest in children.

Olwage admitted improperly exercising his police powers and privileges to receive the "benefit of sexual gratification".

He pleaded not guilty to engaging in sexual communication with a child, attempting to cause/incite a girl aged 13 to engage in sexual activity, and meeting a girl under the age of 16 following grooming.

Updates to follow